Live station

Live station
Basic data
developer	Skinkers Ltd., Microsoft Research
Publishing year	September 7, 2007
Current  version	3.2.0 (July 2010)
operating system	Microsoft Windows , Linux and macOS
category	IPTV
License	Freeware , proprietary
German speaking	No
Livestation.com

Livestation was a platform through which television and radio programs could be transmitted and received live over the Internet. It was made by Skinkers Ltd. developed and based on a peer-to-peer technology from Microsoft Research . The use required a free registration with Livestation.

technology

Livestation worked with the VC-1 format. In contrast to other services such as Joost, which offer videos on demand ( “on demand” ), live streams are transmitted. The video stream is split up and the partial streams are distributed independently of one another for transmission to the peers. From a technical point of view, Livestation is therefore comparable to the Zattoo service .

Livestation was received via the player of the same name, which is offered for Microsoft Windows , Linux and Mac OS . For the programs BBC World News and Al Jazeera English there are apps for reception with the Apple iPhone .

Programs

Mainly international news channels were broadcast:

• BBC World News , BBC World Service Radio and BBC Arabic
• Al Jazeera in Arabic and English
• France 24 in French, English and Arabic
• RFI radio in French and Chinese
• Al-Arabiya in Arabic
• Al Aan TV
• Bloomberg Television
• C-SPAN
• Deutsche Welle TV and radio in German, English, Arabic and Spanish
• Euronews in German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian and Arabic
• Independent Television News
• Russia Today in English and Arabic
• Press TV
• NASA TV
• Democratic Voice of Burma
• UNHCR TV
• Frontline Club
• Nour TV
• Samaa TV
• Libya TV

Users could add their own channels to the offer and choose whether they should only be available privately or for all other users.

The station search was done either via the website or via the search function in the player. Some live streams were only available in individual countries.

There was also a paid program that could only be used against payment of a fee. In this respect, some programs were offered that are also freely available. However, the paid streams should be available more reliably. On the other hand, programs were provided that would otherwise not be freely available.

Since April 2010, advertisements were observed in the Livestation Player on some broadcasters that could be switched off with a click of the mouse. It was offered to switch off the display completely for a fee.

Since May 2012, Sky News has been made available to users in the United States and Canada via Livestation.

Other services

A statistics function was available in the Livestation Player that displayed the most frequently used channels.

For some programs you could activate “alerts” to show program information or current news.

A chat function enabled users to discuss the program on the channel they had just selected. The chat was moderated.

development

Livestation was in the black for the first time in the first quarter of 2011. Especially in connection with the political developments in the Middle East (the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt as well as the civil war in Libya ), the number of users rose by leaps and bounds. In a blog post, the broadcaster speaks of an increase in the number of users during this period of 1047 percent to a good 10 million viewers per month and attributes the development primarily to the fact that Livestation can be used freely over the Internet. The two most-watched programs, BBC World News and AlJazeera English, are also reluctant to be distributed in broadband cable networks in North America. The severe earthquake in Japan in March 2011 also led to an influx of spectators. Mobile usage also increased to more than 15 million hits in March 2011.

Closure of the platform

At the end of March 2017, the Livestation service was closed without notice.

Web links

• Official website of Livestation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kim Andrew Elliott. "Apps a nail in the coffin of broadcast mobile TV." . July 11, 2009.
2. ↑ Sky News available in America and Canada via Livestation . In: tvnewsroom.co.uk. May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} The Livestation revolution ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Livestation Blog. April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011. 
4. ↑ livestation.com